The Children
by Pantherlily
Summary: Case File. The team investigates the murder of families with three members. Takes place sometime in season six. Spoiler alert for anything that's happened on the show thus far. Rated M because language will probably become strong and has graphic imagery.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note:

So, this is my first stab at a Criminal Mind's fanfic. I have a terrible habit of not finishing my fanfics, so we'll see what happens. The title is subject to change as I don't like it but all I can come up with at the time. I've vaguely edited/proofed this myself so hopefully its okay. I like feedback, so please review. If you decide to flame it, at least be constructive with your criticism. The fanfic is turning out to be Hotch-centric, which isn't something I intended...it just sort of happened.

* * *

**Fishers, Indiana**

_They all deserve to die. Every. Last. One. Of. Them._ The stopping of the child thrashing broke the killer's thoughts. A sick smile of satisfaction creased the lips. The killer removed the small body from the tub, water dripping all around and laid the limp body on the floor. Black gloves reached for the knife on the floor and tore into the already dead flesh. Blood spilled onto the floor. The gloved hands dipped in the display of freshly fallen blood. The killer wrote the message on the wall. "They all deserve to die." The blood dripped with each letter.

* * *

**Quantico, Virginia**

FBI Unit Chief of the Behavioral Analysis Unit, Aaron Hotchner, hung up the phone. It was time to assemble the team. With no official media liaison, sometimes cases came directly to him these days. His brown eyes looked down at the file that had been faxed over while he had been on the phone. Children being killed was troublesome enough, but the message in blood was even more troubling. Who could possibly think that children deserved to die? This was not going to be an easy case, but then again, the ones with kids never were. He glanced at the photo of his son, Jack, that was on his desk. For a brief moment he thought of George Foyet and how close he come to losing his own son. He shook his head and let out a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding. He organized the pictures and other papers into a folder and then rose from his desk. He left his office and walked the short distance to another office.

Hotch popped his head into Supervisory Special Agent David Rossi's office. "Hey, assemble the team. We've got a new case." Without waiting for an answer he left and went to get ready to brief the team.

Rossi quickly finished up what he was working on and then went down the stairs to inform the rest of the team. He came in on the middle of a conversation that Dr. Spencer Reid and Derek Morgan were having and had interrupted with a brief clearing of his voice and then said, "Hotch wants us."

"Oh thank God. If I had to keep listening to Reid go on about the difference between pink and red tomatoes, you'd be hauling me way in hand cuffs." Morgan smiled, uncrossed his arms and got up off the desk he had been leaning on.

Reid looked confused and seemed about to protest but the other two agents were already heading upstairs. He grabbed his satchel and followed after his colleagues.

The three men took their seats quietly and looked expectantly to their boss. Hotch waited for a few more moments and then looked questioningly to Rossi. "Where's Prentiss?"

"She's on vacation, remember?"

"Right, I knew that." The truth was, Hotch hadn't remembered but being anything other than confident in front of his team wasn't acceptable in his eyes. They were going to be short a team member. Fantastic. He turned his attention to the screen behind him and began the slide show. "Indianapolis, Indiana. A family of three was killed. The mother and father were shot in the head and the child was abducted and found two days later. COD was drowning and then the body was cut post mortem. Fishers, Indiana one week later. Another family of three was killed. Same as the last, parents shot in the head and the child abducted. This time the body was found one day after abduction. MO is the same otherwise though, drowning and then cut post mortem. However, the unsub left a message with the body this time." He clicked to the message written in blood, "They all deserve to die."

A muffled sound of horror came from the door way as the team's technician, Penelope Garcia, walked in. She averted her gaze from the pictures. "Uh Sir, I did a background check on the families like you asked, and I couldn't find anything to connect the two. If there isn't anything else, I'll be going." She didn't want to stick around any longer than she had to.

"Garcia, you'll be going with us to Indiana."

"Sir?"

"You're _going._ Wheels go up in an hour." The words came out a little harsher than Hotch had intended. His tone of voice wasn't lost on Garcia but she mustered a "Yes Sir" and left the room. The room fell quiet and he quickly regrouped. "Thoughts on the case?" Better to press on, than try to explain anything. There was a ruffling a paper as his team glanced over their copies of the case.

Morgan broke the silence. "Well, both families lived off of 96th street. Maybe the number has some kind of significance to the unsub."

"Actually, 96th street in this case is a county line. The north side is Hamilton County and the southern side is Marion County. Same road, different counties." Reid chimed in. When the team looked at him, he merely shrugged and said in way of explanation. "The last time we were in Indiana I studied a map of it."

Morgan half smiled at Reid's explanation and noticed something of interest in the autopsy report. "Autopsy of the first boy says there was chloroform was used. Chances are, the second boy will show the same. Chloroform? That's old school."

"People use what they know." Rossi finally added some input.

"Chloroform has variety of uses. It's used for Teflon and refrigerant uses. However, the use as a refrigerant is being phased out due to the potential harm it can do to the ozone. Chloroform is also commonly used in pharmaceutical industry as a solvent because of how volatile it is. Vets sometimes use it to kill maggots from wounds. Of course the most common known use for it was as an anesthetic. Oh and it used to be used in tooth pastes, cough syrup and other pharmaceuticals but that was outlawed in 1976, except for some cough syrups in the UK can still be bought in super markets." Reid rattled off the information with ease.

"So our unsub most likely works with it on a regular basis or used to." Rossi mused out loud.

"If the unsub stays on the schedule it's been on, then we have five days until they find another family and kill them. The plane leaves soon. Everyone get a ready and we'll discuss the case further on the flight." Hotch ended the meeting and began putting everything back.

Reid and Morgan had left but Rossi lingered. "What's going on with you Hotch?"

Hotch stared down at the paper work before meeting Rossi's gaze. "I'm not sure."

"You okay?"

"Yeah. I'll be fine."

"Want to talk about it?"

"Not really."

"Fair enough." Without further inquiry Rossi left Hotch alone.

Hotch hadn't lied, he really wasn't sure what was going on with him. He thought he'd put the business of Foyet behind him but now it all seemed to be coming back to him. He needed to keep it together, he'd been under close scrutiny already.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note:

Next part came fairly quickly. No promises I will be able to keep posting chapters this quickly. Sometimes story ideas just flow quickly. This isn't edited very well, since I only did a quick scan. I should probably get a beta. Anyone interested?

* * *

_"Safety and security don't just happen, they are the result of collective consensus and public investment. We owe our children, the most vulnerable citizens in our society, a life free of violence and fear." – Nelson Mandela_

The quote occurred to Hotch while he sat alone on the BAU's private jet. He had been the first one to board, leaving him to dabble in his own thoughts. Was that what he was doing? Why he threw himself into work like this? Someone else coming on board disturbed him out of his reverie. Seeing Garcia he said, "Look about earlier…with Prentiss on vacation, we need all hands on deck with this case."

"If that's your version of an apology then it's terrible."

The tips of his lips quirked up, it was almost a smile.

"Is that a smile I see Sir?" Someone else coming on caused her to turn and proclaim, "I'm a miracle worker!"

Morgan instantly replied, "I know that Baby Girl."

"No, you don't understand. I got Agent Aaron Hotchner to _smile._" Garcia was ecstatic.

"If anyone can do it, it'd be you darlin'." Most people would probably consider their banter inappropriate for coworkers, but Morgan and Garcia had an instant bond since day one.

While Hotch wasn't known for his sense of humor it didn't mean he didn't have one. "I have no idea what she is talking about."

"Lies! I saw it Mister!" Garcia's annoyance was clearly feigned.

Morgan just laughed as he found his seat.

The laughter must have been contagious because soon Garcia was laughing as well, unable to keep up the appearance of being mad.

Reid boarded and looked from Morgan to Garcia with an arched brow. He wasn't sure he wanted to know what they were laughing about. With them it could literally be anything and he figured he was just better off not knowing. He took his seat quietly, removing his satchel from around his neck and placing it on his lap.

Rossi was the last to show up, by then Morgan and Garcia had stopped laughing. The plane was quiet, but not awkwardly or uncomfortably so.

When Rossi took a seat, Hotch got down to business right away. "Clearly the unsub is targeting the children. The unsub kills the parents first, to make sure they aren't interrupted from kidnapping the child."

"If that's true, then I think the unsub is a woman." Reid chimed in.

"Based on?" Hotch inquired.

"Well, there was no sexual assault found on the first boy and they probably won't find one on the second boy. In fact, there were no signs of any kind of sexual release. I don't think this about a sexual need at all. The message on the wall found with the second body, sounds more like a mission statement. If I'm right, the female unsub most likely lost her own children or possibly killed them herself."

"The unsub doesn't just kill the parents to get them out of the way, they kill them so they don't have to know the loss of losing a child." Rossi picked up on Reid's line of thinking.

"Okay, say that's true. What's the motivation for killing the kids in the first place?" Morgan asked.

"Hard to say at this point, depends on the stressor." Reid answered.

"What about victomology?" Hotch wanted to make sure they covered all the bases on the case so they could build a profile before they landed. However, they had more theories than anything at this point. Which meant they probably wouldn't be able to give the local police a briefing on the profile until the unsub struck again. The thought was damn near crippling. Luckily he was saved from his own thoughts when Rossi answered his question.

"Well, like Garcia said there isn't a discernible connection between the two families. Other than their location and being wealthy and white they don't have anything in common. First family didn't seem to have any religious affiliation and the second family went to church every Sunday, children went to different schools, different jobs for the parents, children were different ages."

"Okay then, let's concentrate on what they have in common. When we land, Reid and Garcia dig deeper and make sure these aren't just random victims. Rossi and Morgan, you two reinvestigate the crime scenes. I'll go to and meet with the lead detective on the case, see if the autopsy for the second family is done and look over any evidence that may have been processed."

* * *

**Fishers, Indiana**

The team entered the small police station. They'd been in smaller, so the tight quarters weren't really that big of deal. After introductions had been made, Rossi and Morgan left and Reid and Garcia went to a quieter spot to work without interruptions. This left Hotch alone with the two detectives who'd caught the first case.

"Thanks for accepting the invitation to come out here. Honestly, it wasn't the popular choice but I've never seen anything like this before. The homicides I usually deal with are husbands killing their wives, gang bangers shooting each other, or a robbery gone awry. But not this, nothing like this." Homicide Detective Sara Buckman said to Hotch. She wasn't very tall, maybe 5'2". She was dressed in what most people would consider unprofessional clothing, khakis and a t-shirt. She had pale blue eyes, almost gray, and shoulder length strawberry blonde hair. Most men probably would have found her attractive, except for the deep scar on her left cheek that ran down to her chin diagonally.

Ever the diplomat with local authorities Hotch replied, "It's not a problem. The BAU is more than happy to help profile and catch this unsub."

"Unsub?" The second detective, James Trenton, asked. He wasn't that old, mid twenties maybe. Medium and height and weight, dressed in a suit similar to Hotch, but newer and it was an Armani. His short black hair was slicked back and parted to one side. His deep green eyes met Hotch's brown ones; it wasn't a pleasant look by any means.

Hotch knew the type, this kid's father was probably somebody important which explained why he was already a detective at such a young age. James probably didn't hear the word "no" very often and expected everyone respect him just because of his family status. Instead of being combative he remained polite and his tone neutral. "Unsub, its short for unidentified subject."

"Right. Why not just call him a killer or a sick son of bitch." James tone o

"Hey Jimmy, why don't you show Agent Hotchner some respect and just listen. Maybe you'll learn something." Sara said reprovingly.

"Don't call me Jimmy, I'm not a kid! It's James." The younger detective exclaimed in outrage, the uniformed officers within ear shot fell quiet and stared at the disrupted officer.

Sara maintained her composure, she was used to his little temper tantrums by this point. "Stop acting like a kid, and I'll stop treating you like one. Now, go finish up your paperwork."

James glared defiantly but did as he was told and walked away muttering curses.

Sara shook her head and looked to Hotch, "Sorry about that, he's..." she searched for a tactful word but couldn't find one, "…a spoiled brat. He's bright and has good deductive reasoning skills, but his temper and loud mouth make him damned near impossible to work with. His father's a big shot lawyer, so he thinks he better than everyone else. Lucky me, I get to train him. Anyway, you'd asked about the forensics report earlier?"

Hotch had watched the exchange between the two detectives in silence. Better not interfere. Finally, back on track. He felt like he was wasting his time just standing there. "Yes, has it come in yet?"

"Yeah, I got it about an hour ago. It's at my desk. Looking for anything particular?"

"Well, when a an unsub appears to be picking victims at random it's important to find as many consistencies and connections between the different crime scenes. It helps us build a more accurate profile of the unsub." Hotch explained while he followed the detective to her desk.

"Have you come with a profile for this guy?"

Hotch cringed mentally at her choice of words. "Not a complete one, but it's important not generalize the unsub. It can cloud your judgment and throw you off the trail of the unsub completely."

"Ah, thus the term 'unsub' then?"

"Correct."

"Okay, I'll remember that." Detective Buckman had been looking through the stack of paper work on her desk and then handed the forensic report to Hotch.

Hotch glanced through it but didn't find anything of any real use. Nothing he didn't expect to find already anyway. Hopefully the rest team had come up with more than he had.


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Note:

Another quick update. I have a fairly good idea of what I want to happen in the next chapter, so it should also be up soon. At least I hope so. Hope you all enjoy!

* * *

Hotch left the two detectives, to visit the morgue. He wasn't sure what he'd be able to learn that wasn't already in the report he had just read. Sometimes looking at the bodies first hand and not just photos and reports helped the investigation. It was a long shot but not much time had gone by since his team had split up. While his team was efficient and worked quickly, he didn't want them to feel rushed with him checking up on them every two seconds. Hotch had thought about it, but trying to rush results could slow the investigation rather than help it. That didn't mean he didn't want answers twenty minutes ago. His mind drifted to his son like it had at the office. How close he had come to losing him. How he'd lost Haley. He'd failed her. Failed to protect her and keep her safe. It was his fault. Guilt gripped him. _For fucks sake, Aaron, get it together! You're no good to the team like this,_ he chastised himself mentally. Wasn't he over this shit? Clearly not. Hotch sighed and stopped walking down the hall and rubbed his head. He was beginning to get a head ache with all this thinking. He took a deep breath. _Focus,_ he told himself. At least no one was around to see his moment of weakness. Another deep breath and he began walking again, shoving his thoughts aside. He prided himself on not letting his emotions rule his actions. Well, usually anyway. Sometimes his anger got the better of him but for the most part he was able to keep his emotions in check. He finally arrived at the swinging doors that lead into the autopsy room. When he had checked in at the front, he'd been told the coroner was still there. Reflexively he took out his badge and introduced himself to the doctor, "I'm Agent Aaron Hotchner with the FBI. I was wondering if I could have a moment of your time, doctor…" He trailed off, uncertain of the man's name and offered his hand to shake once he put his badge away.

The older man shook Hotch's hand. "Dr. Alvin Thatcher. I'm assuming you are here about the family that was killed two days ago."

Hotch nodded. "If you don't mind, I'd like to take a look at their bodies."

"Sure, if you think it will help." Dr. Thatcher opened three drawers.

Hotch inspected the parents first. Both shot between the eyes. The shots were clean and if memory served him right the bullets had been through and throughs. Killed instantly, they didn't even know what hit them. He supposed that was a mild blessing, to go in your sleep like that. The parent's death suggested a calculated killer, someone who knew their way around a gun. He then looked the body of the nine year old boy. Stab wounds were everywhere. The boy had been stabbed forty times. This would suggest a rage killing but the stabbing had been post mortem. Drowning had been COD, which suggested patience. The unsub was sending mixed messages. Nothing he hadn't already figured out from the reports. Oh well, it'd been worth a shot. "Thank you for your time Dr. Thatcher."

"Anything else I can you help with?"

"No, thanks again." Hotch turned to leave and then stopped and looked back to the coroner. Something Reid had said on the plane came to mind. "Have there been other children who died from drowning recently?"

Dr. Thatcher thought for a moment and then shook his head. "No, but I didn't do the autopsy of the first family since it was in a different county. Maybe the coroner over there has."

"Okay, thanks again." Hotch left the room. Time to see if Garcia and Reid had come up with anything. He made his way back to the police station, willing himself not to think about anything. He entered the room his subordinates had secluded themselves in. "Anything?"

"Maybe." Reid answered cryptically, he was reading over Garcia's shoulder. He was oblivious to the fact she was not comfortable with his hovering. He was more engrossed on what was on the screen.

"Maybe?" Hotch echoed back.

"Well, we still came up empty on any connections with the families so I had Garcia look up who has access to chloroform in the state. It's a restricted substance and anyone without a permit can't obtain it."

"Naturally, I narrowed the search down to the two counties the murders took place." Garcia supplied.

"I came up with a possible geographic profile of where the unsub lives, based off the murders and dump sites of the children." Reid indicated the map behind him with his thumb. It had circles and pins in it.

Hotch went over to inspect Reid's work. Finally the case felt like it was going somewhere. Being stuck on square one had begun to wear thin on his nerves. They needed to get ahead of this unsub before more lives were lost. The inside circle was the comfort zone, where the killer struck, and the bigger one around that was where the unsub most likely lived and/or worked. It was still quite a large area to cover, but something was better than nothing. "Garcia, narrow your search down even further based on the geographic profile."

"I already did that Sir."

"And?"

"Well, no one specifically came up. However, there are two companies that still use chloroform. Both of them are pharmaceutical companies."

"Lily Pad and Phister, two of the biggest pharmaceutical companies around. Both companies have hundreds of employees. Lily Pad's main headquarters is actually in down town Indianapolis. Phister has a large office downtown as well, I believe." Reid jumped back into the conversation.

Great. So anyone of those hundreds of employees could be the unsub. Still, they were making head way. Something was better than nothing Hotch reminded himself again. The thought offered little to no comfort. These companies wouldn't give them information they were looking for without a warrant. And right now, there wasn't any evidence suggesting the unsub actually worked for them, so there wasn't any point in bothering a judge to get one. There could be another way though… "Garcia, can you find out what employees have access to the chloroform?"

"Sir, are you asking me to hack into their systems?"

"How you get the information, isn't something I need to know. I was merely asking if you could it."

"You do know who you are talking to, right?"

Hotch gave her a stern look. He wasn't in the mood for games right now.

"Yes Sir." Garcia replied with a smile and began typing away.

"Good. I'm going to check in with Morgan and Rossi. Reid, keep working on the geographic profile. See if you can make the radius smaller based on the information Garcia gets. Oh and Garcia, see if any of the employees who have access to chloroform also have a gun registered to them. Specifically a HK USP .45 caliber, it's the gun used on the parents. And then see if any of them have lost a child recently." Hotch left the room and took out his cell phone.

_Meanwhile…_

Rossi and Morgan had gone to the first crime scene, while the rest of the team had stayed behind at the police station. They had inspected the houses and then the secondary crime scenes. They were almost done. They were finishing up inspecting the latest secondary scene.

"So, what's going on with Hotch?" Morgan asked Rossi.

"What do you mean?" Maybe he could get away with playing dumb.

"Oh come on, if I noticed then I know _you_ noticed."

Nope, no such luck. "Fine. Yes, I noticed but I don't know what's troubling him."

Morgan gave a noncommittal response, deciding not to pursue the matter further. He switched the conversation to the case. "This unsub is organized and careful. Probably has a kill kit and yet leaves no evidence behind. No fibers, no prints, nothing. They took the time to pick up the shell casings and yet left the bullet behind…which doesn't make sense..."

"Unless the unsub knows the gun can't be traced back to them. The gun probably isn't registered or maybe they stole it."

"Then why take the time to pick up the casings?"

"I don't know. Maybe they didn't think about taking the bullets. Could be the mistake we need to get this case rolling."

"I guess. Nothing here either. The unsub drained the tub, stabbed the kid outside of it and leaves the body where it is. Only here, there is a message for us. What do you think the unsub is trying to tell us?"

"Well, 'they' is vague. It could mean the kids or possibly the parents. However, it's most likely referring to children since it was written in the boy's blood and found on the wall directly over the body."

"What if the message is talking about everyone the unsub has killed? Like the message is a justification for it."

"Also a possibility." Rossi admitted. Just then his phone rang, "Rossi." He answered the phone and the listened to the other end. "All right. We'll be there soon. We are just finishing up the last crime scene." He flipped the phone closed and put it away.

"What's up?"

"Hotch wants us back at the police station. Reid came up with a geographical profile and Garcia is working on finding people who have access to chloroform. He thinks we should be able to give a profile to the local police soon."

"All right, let's go then."


	4. Chapter 4

Author's Note:

I've had a lot of free time lately, so here is another chapter. Many thanks to CMFan2009 for taking the time and being my beta! I've already begun chapter 5, so is should be up soon! This chapter basically revolves around Hotch and Rossi.

* * *

The BAU team were all assembled and going over the facts and new information they had gathered. They talked late into the evening, finally coming up with a profile to give the police. Given the hour, the detectives working the case had already gone home. The team decided to brief the police tomorrow. They broke up for the night, going back to their hotel.

Hotch was sitting in his hotel room in silence and in the dark. There was no way he could he sleep tonight. But the rest of his team needed to rest. They had worked hard today and sleep deprived agents would make for future sloppy work. He was doing his best to not think about anything at all. A knock at the door broke the silence in the room. Maybe if he ignored the knocking the person would leave. He just wanted to be alone right now. More knocking, this time a little louder and more persistent. Fine. He got up from the uncomfortable chair the hotel offered to sit in and answered the door. He wasn't surprised to see David Rossi on the other side. "What is it Dave?" The door was opened, but Hotch stood in the doorway to bar entry. He already knew what the older man wanted and hoped this conversation wouldn't go on long.

Rossi dodged the question by asking his own. "Sitting in the dark? A man can drive himself crazy if he thinks too much."

"I was sleeping."

"In your suit?"

A wary sigh escaped Hotch. "Fine, I wasn't sleeping."

"Yeah, I figured that. You going to let me in, or leave me standing outside?"

Hotch moved out of the way without a word and sat back down in the chair.

Rossi shut the door behind him and flicked a light on. "The team's worried about you. _I'm_ worried about." He said, as he sat down in the other chair.

"Profiling each other is off limits, you know that." Hotch countered. He still didn't feel like talking.

"I'm not profiling you. I'm your friend and I know when something is bothering you. I let you off easy back at the office, but not this time."

Hotch remained stubbornly silent for a few minutes, but when Rossi waited him out he let out a disgruntled noise but finally said something. "I'm not sure really. When I got the call about the case and saw it involved children, I thought about how close I had come to losing Jack. Thought I was over the whole Foyet ordeal…" He trailed off and shrugged.

"Aaron," Rossi used his first name, hoping it'd make the younger man listen to what he had to say, "Foyet is dead. Jack is safe. Thinking about what could have happened isn't going to do any good. And it definitely isn't going to do _you_ any good."

Hotch was quiet for another length of time and was surprised to hear himself say, "It's not that…I…do you think I did the right thing?" He knew what had been gnawing at him all day, but it wasn't until this moment he finally acknowledged it.

"You'll need to elaborate on that. I may be a profiler but I'm not a mind reader." Rossi attempted to lighten the mood with a hint of humor.

If the humor registered with Hotch he didn't show it. His dark brown eyes found Rossi's and he answered somberly, "Staying with the BAU, instead of retiring to take care of Jack." The eye contact was broken immediately after he spoke, mainly because being this open with anyone made him feel uncomfortable. Even if it was David, probably the closest person he was to in the BAU.

Well, that wasn't the response he was expecting. Rossi took a moment to answer. "You're the only one who can answer that."

Before Hotch could reply, his cell rang. He looked down at the caller ID; the number was local to Indiana. Probably one of the detectives. A sense of dread came over him as he answered. "SSA Aaron Hotchner." He listened to the other end, it was worse that he thought. "Okay, secure the scene, we'll be right there." He flipped the phone closed and looked to Rossi. "The unsub struck again, let's go."

"I'll go, you should sleep."

"No." Hotch replied flatly.

"Fine, but I'm coming with you. Do you want me to get the rest of the team?"

"Let them get some sleep. We can cover the crime scene, then we'll see where we are at. Dave, the victims are Detective Buckman and her family. " Hotch left the hotel room, and got in the SUV's driver's seat.

Rossi followed after Hotch, closing the door to the hotel room behind him and then climbed into the passenger's seat. "I didn't know she was married, she didn't wear a wedding band."

"Some law enforcement officials don't wear their wedding bands on the job." Hotch replied as he started the Suburban and entered the address that he had been texted into the GPS unit. After they were away from the hotel, he turned on the flashing lights. "The local PD isn't going to like this. Not only killing a cop, but also the cop's family. They're going to want to rush things and demand answers. They'll look for the easiest solution, even if it isn't the right one."

"Think the unsub knew she was cop? Or that the detective just happened to fit the unsub's MO?"

"Hard to say at this point. She should have told us that she fit the MO of the unsub."

"Are you saying that it's her fault this happened?"

"No, of course not. I'm just saying that maybe it could have been prevented, had we known."

"The unsub is escalating and broke pattern. It's only been two days since the last family was attacked."

"Broke pattern?"

Rossi indicated the address Hotch had input on the GPS wasn't a 96th Street location.

"Assuming the street name was part of the pattern." They finally got to where they were going. Several cop cars were already there and the scene was taped off. Hotch got out the of the SUV.

"_You!_ This is all your fault!" Detective Trenton got into Hotch's face.

Hotch didn't blink or back down. He managed to keep his tone even. "I can understand you are upset, but we need to work together here. Not fight amongst ourselves."

"We don't need your help. We can take care of our own." The young detective glared defiantly.

Rossi intercepted Hotch, pulling on his arm and directing him to the house. "For the record, it isn't your fault." He murmured when they were out of ear shot of the younger man.

"I know that. There's no way we could have predicted the unsub would strike again so soon. Look, since it's just us here, let's divide and conqueror this crime scene. I'll investigate inside. You see how they found out about this crime scene so quickly. The others weren't discovered until a day or so later."

Hotch showed the uniformed officer outside his badge and then entered the house. He wasn't sure what to expect, because the only details he had been told that Detective Buckman and her family were dead. He went up the stairs to where the bedrooms were located. He entered the master bedroom first. Sure enough there was Sara and her husband. He hadn't known her that long but she seemed like a good detective. If they had given the profile tonight, would this have happened? Maybe Detective Trenton was right. Maybe it was his fault. _Come on, you know that isn't true, _he told himself. He supposed it was easy to question his decision, when he was now questioning whether or not he should have stayed with the BAU at all. Had he made a right decision since then, period? He couldn't think about that now. He was at a crime scene for God's sake! He left the parent's room and then went across the hall to the other bedroom.

Well, this was new. The unsub hadn't kidnapped the child. Instead, killed her there in the room. Rossi was right about one thing, the unsub had definitely broken pattern. The small child lay lifeless in the bed. She couldn't be any more than five or six, younger than previous boys. Hotch wasn't sure if it meant anything, but the children were getting younger with each crime scene. He surveyed the room; blood splattered the walls, the bed post, and of course the sheets. There weren't nearly as many stab wounds, just three this time. The question was, had she been stabbed post mortem like the boys? Another question, why had the killer broken pattern? Another message, opposite of the body instead of directly above the child's body. This time it was a bloody knife, stabbed into the wall. A news clipping was pinned underneath it. He moved in to get a closer look. Well, that answered one question. The unsub knew Sara had been a cop. The news paper article was about Detective Buckman taking charge of both cases, despite the cross jurisdiction. The article had been written the day before the BAU had shown up. The knife impaled the picture of the late detective. The knife was most likely the same one used to stab the child. The coroner and forensics hadn't been in yet, so there wasn't much else he could do here. He left the room and exited the house. He saw Rossi coming towards him as he walked through the yard toward the SUV.

"Hotch, neighbor's called it in. Heard the girl screaming, went over and knocked on the door and when there wasn't an answer they went back home and called 9-1-1."

"That means the unsub stabbed her to death. It was cleaner this time, only three stab wounds this time."

"The unsub's learning more control? Or got interrupted when the neighbor knocked? Maybe the unsub worked up to being able kill the children with stabbing…thus the first two were drowned?" Rossi was just tossing ideas out there right now. It was hard to think clearly when sleep was threatening to overtake you. He tried to suppress a yawn with the sleeve of shirt.

"There isn't much else we can do here until forensics does their thing. I'll drive you back to the hotel, you should get some sleep." Hotch opened the door to the Suburban.

"Speak for yourself."

"I'm fine."

"You and I both know that isn't true."

"Look, even if I wanted to I wouldn't be able to sleep right now."

"Agent Hotchner?" An unfamiliar voice interrupted them.

Hotch turned around to face who had spoken to him. "Yes?"

"I'm Detective Sam Devereaux. I was Sara…uh…Detective Buckman's partner before she got assigned to that rich bastard."

Hotch responded automatically with, "I'm sorry for your loss Detective. Is there something I can help you with?"

"You'll catch this son of a bitch, right?"

Making promises wasn't a wise thing to do, so Hotch chose his words carefully. "We have a profile, so we should be able to catch the unsub soon."

"That's not good enough. If you don't, _we will_." He gestured to other cops milling around.

"Detective Devereaux, I know how you must feel right now but-" Hotch got cut off midsentence.

"You have no idea how I feel right now." Angered flared with the words. Sam took a deep breath and then continued on, calmer this time. "However, your team's reputation is well known. So, I recognize the fact you are our best hope to find out who did this…but if you don't…" The detective shrugged. "She didn't deserve this, you know? They'd tried so hard to have a kid and then they did, only to have it all snatched away…" He shook his head sadly as he trailed off.

Hotch let the detective ramble, but something the other man had said clicked with the case. If he was right, they'd have to change the profile completely. For now he kept it to himself and said, "If you can keep the police calm, it'd make our job easier."

"Uh…yeah sure, I can try. I'm not sure how long they'll be pacified though."

"Anything you can do would be greatly appreciated. If you'll excuse us detective, we've got some work to do." Hotch motioned to the quiet Rossi and himself.

The detective merely nodded and walked away without another word.

"I know you aren't serious about continuing to work tonight. We both need some rest."

Hotch was distracted with his revelation and looked up to Rossi who had spoken to him. "Hmmm? Oh right, yes. I agree." He got in the SUV and started it up.

"You do?" Rossi asked, when he got in the vehicle.

"Yeah."

Rossi wasn't buying it. "Right, because you're known for changing your stubborn mind so quickly."

"It's been a long day and I really don't feel like arguing right now." Hotch knew Rossi meant well, but his friend's good intentions were starting to annoy him.

"Who's arguing?"

"Dave, enough." Hotch didn't yell but his tone had increased, clearly showing the irritation he felt.

The rest of ride back to the hotel was in silence. Hotch walked into his hotel room and found the familiar place of the chair he'd been sitting in earlier. He began to work on a new preliminary profile for the unsub. If he was right, Garcia should be able to narrow it down significantly. If he was wrong, well then they still had the first profile they built to go off of. It was late, she deserved to sleep. It just meant tomorrow would be an early start.


	5. Chapter 5

Author's Note:

Final chapter. I don't really like it and I know I rushed the ending. The story had potential to be better, but I couldn't get it the way I wanted and it was frustrating me so I just decided to end it. Sorry it took so long to get this last chapter up. Thanks to all those who reviewed and subscribed. I'm sorry for the half-assed ending.

* * *

Hotch was awakened by knocking at his door. He didn't remember falling asleep. How long had he slept? He glanced to the clock by the bed, a little after eight. Damn, so much for an early start. He lifted his head up off the table, the paper he had been writing on sticking to his face. He groaned, removing the piece of paper, and got out of the chair. He answered the door to find Morgan on the other end.

Morgan raised an eyebrow at his boss' appearance. "Hotch man, no offense but you look like shit."

Hotch looked down at his disheveled suit and then back up to Morgan. "I was up late working. Is everyone still here at the hotel?"

"No, just us."

"Do you know if the rest of the team has already given the profile?"

"No, Rossi said to let you sleep in and then wait for you to start it. He did fill us in on what happened last night though."

"Okay good. Look just give me a few minutes and I'll be ready."

"Sure."

Hotch took a quick shower and put on a fresh suit. On his way out of the room, he took out his cell phone and hit a number on speed dial. "Garcia, first of all if I'm on speaker click me off of it. Secondly, I need you to check into something for me. See if all three families went to fertility clinics." He got in the Suburban, ignoring the curious look from Morgan. "They did? Okay, now cross reference that list you came up with from the pharmaceutical companies." Another brief pause on the other end of the phone, "Okay, now look into their background. Really? Okay. Garcia good work, and don't get down on yourself about not catching the connection. To have gone back that far would have been a waste of time, in a time sensitive case. There would have been no reason for it." Sometimes Hotch felt like he knew his team better than himself. "Can you put Rossi on and send me the address?" He waited a moment. "Yeah Dave, we have the name of the unsub and the address of their house. Garcia will fill you in. Make sure it's just the team in the room when she does. I don't want the local police department doing anything rash. Contact the detective from last night, Devereaux. He seemed reasonable enough, coordinate with him for a raid. Morgan and I will meet you there." He terminated the call, checked his phone and input the address that he had received into the GPS.

"Hotch, what's going on?"

"Last night, at the crime scene one of the detectives said something about Detective Buckman and her husband having trouble having kids. While none of the couples shared the same age they were all middle aged with one young child. Most people that age have kids earlier or more than one. Where do couples go when they have problems conceiving?" Hotch drove while he spoke.

"Fertility clinics." Morgan supplied. "How did you come to that conclusion though? With the profile we came up with, it didn't even fit."

"Profiling isn't a science, just a lot of guesswork based off the information of the crime scenes."

"That wasn't really an answer but what you are saying is, you had Garcia look into that stuff based on a hunch."

"I don't know if 'hunch' is the word I would use. More like an educated guess."

Morgan smiled and shook his head. "Okay boss, whatever you say." It was quiet for a few minutes and then he said, "Hotch you know that if you needed to talk, the team's here for you right?"

What the hell, had everyone noticed he was a little off his game? Hotch didn't like being that transparent, guarding his emotions was something he thought he had perfected. Apparently his carefully constructed wall was crumbling. He found this perturbing but he kept his usual neutral face and replied, "Yeah, I know."

Morgan frowned but decided not to prod. Hotch was a stubborn man and if he didn't want to talk he wasn't going to.

The SUV came to a stop; they were the first ones on the scene. No surprise there. While Hotch was anxious to arrest the unsub and go home to his son Jack, but common sense and protocol required them to wait for back up.

Maybe ten minutes went by and they had a small task force ready to go. With bullet proof vests on and guns drawn, the team approached. Hotch kicked down the front door announcing himself as he entered "FBI!" He went room to room on the first floor, calling clear to the rest of the group. A gunshot going off upstairs drew his attention. He went swiftly but cautiously to where he had heard the gun going off. The door was open and was relieved to see Detective Devereaux making an arrest.

"You aren't getting off that easy, bitch." The Detective said as he put the cuffs on. He turned to see Hotch. "She tried to kill herself. Too easy for her, if you ask me. And hey, this is _our_ collar." He drew the injured woman to her feet unceremoniously.

"Of course." Hotch replied, as he holstered his gun.

* * *

While Hotch wanted nothing more to go home now that an arrest had been made, he made the decision to stick around. If only to make sure the woman wasn't mistreated by the police. By no means did he think a killer should be shown mercy, but part of upholding the law was making sure the suspect's rights remained intact. Or perhaps that was just the prosecutor in him.

Once the unsub had gotten medical attention for the gunshot wound to the shoulder, Hotch personally transported her to the police station. He was walking the prisoner up the sidewalk, when he saw Detective Trenton coming their way. It all happened so fast, Hotch didn't have time to react. He heard someone shout "gun!" but it was too late. Detective Trenton shot the woman twice in the chest and then dropped his gun. He was arrested immediately. _What a waste,_ Hotch thought to himself. He shook his head. It was time to go home. There was nothing else for his team to do here now.

* * *

"_Sometimes you put walls up not to keep people out, but to see who cares enough to break them down."- Anonymous_

Hotch was sitting, staring out the window the plane and reflecting on the last couple days. It finally dawned on him why he had stayed with the BAU. They were his family too and they needed him just as much as he needed them. He turned his attention to his team, they were busy laughing and talking amongst themselves. A rare smile crept on his lips momentarily. _Yes,_ he thought to himself, _this was the right choice. _This was where he belonged. And he realized that the only reason his carefully constructed wall was crumbling was because he was finally letting them through. He wasn't ready to share everything of course, but he knew he could always count on his team when he was ready.


End file.
